An effort by a handful of state attorneys general to intervene in an enforcement action brought by the CFPB against Sprint Corp. back in 2014 and lay claim to the unspent settlement funds will likely come to naught, after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York blocked the effort. In its enforcement action, brought in December 2014, the CFPB accused Sprint of billing wireless customers tens of millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party charges from 2004 to 2013. The issue here involved charges for what are known as “premium text messages” or “premium short messaging services” because they are frequently delivered by text messages. Examples of such products and services include ringtones, wallpaper images, and text ...
There has not been a lot of recent enforcement activity from the CFPB in terms of its loan originator compensation rule, but industry participants shouldn’t get complacent, according to some top compliance professionals. “We’ve seen the bureau say a couple different times that this is going to be a priority, and they’ve put out a few bulletins on this rule. But we’ve seen very little enforcement activity in this space,” said Maria Earley, a partner with the Reed Smith law firm in Washington, DC, during a panel discussion at the American Bankers Association’s 2017 regulatory compliance conference, held last month in Orlando.That being said, compliance professionals must not let their guard down. “Document everything. Step through with the regulators ...
FUN FACT: Between 2000 and 2007, roughly $2.726 trillion of subprime residential loans were originated nationwide. Last year, just $2.0 billion were funded.
The purchase-mortgage market is beginning to kick into gear, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of agency mortgage-backed securities issuance through the first five months of 2017. Collectively, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $268.36 billion of single-family purchase mortgages from January through May. That was up 10.5 percent from the same period in 2016. Purchase-mortgage volume has ... [Includes one data chart]
An increasing number of mortgage lenders have eased up on their underwriting standards recently and are likely to continue doing so in the months ahead in order to counter cooling consumer demand for residential financing, according to a new survey from government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae. Decreased housing affordability and loan profitability, coupled with increased competition, are driving the expansion of the credit box. Lenders also cited reduced ...
A number of factors beyond offering mortgages with low interest rates can help boost customer satisfaction, said Strategic Mortgage Finance Group. Officials at the advisory firm suggest that communication with borrowers can help reduce complaints. Garth Graham, a senior partner at Stratmor and head of its marketing strategy and execution practice, said lenders can gain market share by using seven practices to improve borrower satisfaction. His advice was based on ...